Padraic Ratigan
� Professor Padriac Ratigan is the main antagonist in The Great Mouse Detective, voiced by horror movie mainstay Vincent Price. Professor Ratigan is responsible for such crimes as "the Big Ben Caper" and "the Tower Bridge Job". A genius criminal mastermind whose ego is matched only by his lust for power, Ratigan's latest insane plan is to kidnap a toymaker, force him to make a robotic duplicate of the queen, and use it to publically proclaim him king. Sounds easy enough, right? Wrong! Only one thing stands in Ratigan's way: "that miserable, second- rate detective, Basil of Baker Street". Ratigan lives in a secret underground hideout where he has countless henchmen sing his praises, light his cigarettes, and cater to his every evil whim. At the end of the movie, Ratigan's mind finally snaps, and he shreds his clothing, extends his appearently retractable claws through his gloves, and attempts to kill Basil in a psychotic rage, any pretenses of civilization abandoned. The battle ends with Ratigan falling to his death off of Big Ben. Although he is a rat, he hates being called one (preferring the description of a "big mouse"), as rats have a reputation of being base, dirty creatures. To eliminate any possible signs of lower breeding, he presents himself as a sophisticated dandy, sporting a full black tuxedo with a pink and purple cravat, white opera gloves (like the kind worn by Mickey Mouse), a black and red cape (similar to Count Dracula's) and a gold cigarette holder. He also has pet cat named Felicia, whom he adored, and therefore he treats her with love and respect since Feclicia is loyal to him. Like all the greatest villains, Ratigan has a taste for the theatrical and has a tendency for throwing himself into melodramatic poses and giving lengthy and verbose speeches. Despite this he is prone to explosive bouts of violence, after which he must switch back to dandified persona. Two examples would be feeding an inebriated mouse named Bartholomew to his cat (named Felecia) for calling him "the world's greatest rat", and fatally tossing his lead henchman (a peg- legged bat with a crippled wing) off the side of his personal zeppolin to "lighten the load". Shortly before his death in 1993, Vincent Price said that Ratigan was one of his favorite roles, and for the record, who could blame him?! This dashingly devious rat recieved spot #17 in UltimateDisney.com's top 30 Disney Villains countdown (one Better than Shan Yu but one lesser than Madame Medusa). He is also notable for being the only character played by Vincent Price to have said actor sing. Quotes * "I'm afraid that you've gone and upset me. You know what happens when someone upsets me." * "My friends. We are about to embark on the most odious, the most evil, the most diabolical scheme of my illustrious carreer." * "I love it when I'm nasty." * "Article 96, a heavy tax shall be paid against all parasites and spongers. Including the elderly, the infirmed, and especially, heh heh, little children." Category: Classics Category: Animals Category:Rich Category:Monarchs Category:Masters of Evil Category:Completely mad Category:Evil geniuses Category:Men Category:Probably Deceased villains